WASHINGTON

When Kalona Cooperative Technology Company’s acquisition of Farmtel Communications was completed on Nov. 20, the telecommunications services provider gained more than additional customers and another office: they gained 12 experienced staff members.

“Both companies come with significant employee longevity, so that is something to really be proud of, for both companies,” Casey Peck, CFO/General Manager at KCTC, said. At KCTC, the average length of employment is almost 11 years, and Farmtel’s employees also bring “quite a bit of longevity to the table,” she said. “That’s significant in this day and age.”

All 12 of Farmtel’s staff members have stayed onboard as the Wayland-based company joins the KCTC family. KCTC has retained all of their staff as well, and has also added a human resources manager as they anticipate continued growth.

“Without employees, we wouldn’t have a business,” Peck says. “With longevity comes so much training that we’ve done and so much education that we’re pushing out into the community so that we can . . . serve in different ways, or different needs.”

KCTC recognizes their employees annually with service awards in five-year increments, and “that will definitely continue,” she says. “We need to honor those people who are doing good things for our customers. We’re super fortunate to be able to have people that can serve.”

The staff enjoys reminiscing about how much has happened over their years working for the company, Peck says. When they consider what they were like when they began their jobs, they notice their improvement over time. “It’s just amazing,” she says. “It’s like, look how much you’ve grown.”

Peck experienced this phenomenon herself; she started out at KCTC as an accountant 22 years ago.

Farmtel’s Wayland office will remain open and staffed going forward, but it will be rebranded. Signage on the building and trucks will change, staff will sport KCTC-logoed clothing, and the letterhead will be updated.

Customers may see changes in their bills as Farmtel’s billing system merges into KCTC’s.

“Billing system changes are never fun,” Peck admits, “but hopefully [Farmtel customers] can do a lot more. They can report trouble online, they can sign up for services online, they can change services online, and that’s not something they’ve been used to. Good quality changes for them.”

As KCTC’s service area expands with the acquisition, they look forward to offering new features to all their customers. On their managed Wi Fi, for example, they are rolling out new IQ tools that offer increased protection and security against cyber threats.

“We’re still in that discovery phase of what’s going really well and what things we need to improve on at each company,” Peck says, indicating that more improvements are yet to come.

It’s been an exciting year for KCTC. In addition to the Farmtel acquisition, they have secured broadband grants that enabled them to provide internet access to parts of Riverside, Kalona, Washington, and Ainsworth that were previously unreached.

“We’re super fortunate [to have] the communities that we’re serving,” Peck says. “We’re excited about all those, to be able to serve the customer, and to serve new customers that haven’t had those opportunities. It’s really the best part of our job.”